Free Baseball Drills - Outfield Drop Step Drill

There is no such thing as a free lunch, but there are free baseball
drills. And I want to point out that all the helpful baseball drills on this
website are free.

In fact, with
the amount of websites offering free youth baseball drills, why would you ever
pay for any?

Make Practices Enjoyable

One more point I would like to make is the best baseball drills are the ones
that keep the players interested. And those are the fun ones.

Free baseball
drills can be helpful and fun at the same time. Try to add competition to a
drill whenever possible. The players love competition and it helps hold their
attention.

If you have
looked at some of the other free baseball drills on this site, then you
probably heard that message before. I’m sorry for the duplication, but it is
worth saying over and over. Make your practices as enjoyable as possible.

Now I will
move on to free baseball practice drills. Below I’m going to describe one of
the good free baseball practice drills. This drill teaches outfielders how to
get back on a baseball hit over their head.

So many times
we see a hitter get a big hit and it drives in the winning run. And
that hit could have been caught by the outfielder, but he got a bad jump on the
ball.

Baseball Tip – Drop Step For
Outfielders

This “drop step” drill is going to teach outfielders to not back pedal to fly
balls, but to turn and run to the baseball.

Even fast
outfielders who’s first step is in on a fly ball hit over their head are in
trouble. Practicing the drop step drill should help form a habit of reading the
fly ball before moving.

Hitting fly
balls to the outfield from home plate is a tough task. To help with this drill,
move yourself to the infield edge of left field.

You are going
to hit or throw fly balls to your outfielders. Some sporting goods stores sell
rackets that are good for hitting pop ups to fielders. Anyway, whatever method
works best for you will be ok.

You need to
be deep in the hole at shortstop. The outfielder is facing you about 10 or 15
feet away. On your command of pointing the baseball to the left or right, the
fielder will start running back in that direction.

The fielder
should take one step backwards, turn his body and run. He should continue to
watch the baseball over his shoulder.

Move the Baseball Like the Wind Would

After the
fielder has taken a few steps, then move the ball to the other side. The
fielder should also turn his hips and run the other direction. This represents
the wind moving the fly ball around. If you like you can turn him one more
time. Then let the baseball fly over the shoulder he is watching from.

After each
outfielder has a few tries, add a new twist to this drill. Bring a second
baseman and a runner onto the field. Now, after making the catch, the runner
will tag up at first and try to advance to second. The outfielder makes the
throw to second, and you make the call. Runners and outfielders love this
drill.

Now Move to Home Plate

Once you have
done this drill many times from the infield area, you will want to have someone
hit fly balls from home plate. Try to watch and see if the outfielders are
using the drop step method.

We have all
seen major league outfielders go back and make great catches. And everyone says
what a great catch they just made.

But without a
good jump on the ball, the outfielder would not have been in a position to make
the good catch. I guess you could say an outfielder’s feet have as much or more
to do with making a catch than the outfielder’s glove.

Coach, work
hard with your outfielders and you will start seeing those big hits turn into
long outs.